Forum Systems Adds Support for WS-SecurityPolicy Specification and Integrates with Microsoft Web Services Enhancements (WSE) 3.0

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — January 24, 2006 — Forum Systems, the leader in Web services and SOA security for threat protection and trust management, today announced that the Forum XWall Web Services Firewall v5.0 is now available with added support for WS-SecurityPolicy specifications allowing developer to integrate with Microsoft WSE 3.0. Forum XWall’s support for WS-SecurityPolicy specifications addresses the needs of consumers and producers of Web services for a structured mechanism to exchange security requirements. By offering compatibility with Microsoft WSE 3.0 policy configuration file, developers as well as administrators of Web services are able to seamlessly deploy .NET applications that fully benefit from a distributed security architecture.

The Microsoft co-authored WS-SecurityPolicy specification is used to define the security configuration that consumers and service providers can rely on for trusted transactions and secure conversations. Once an organization defines these policies, they are stored as reusable documents to be referenced by clients, to adhere to the security policy requirements as well as end-points or intermediaries and to enforce the policies at run-time.

Perimeter Web Services Security Enforcement

As the trend continues to deploy externalized Web services, companies need to ensure best practices, high performance, business interoperability and global governance. Enterprises can not exclusively rely upon application developers to code enterprise security requirements and are therefore turning XML Web Services Firewalls into the dominate model for service-oriented security. The Forum XWall Web Services Firewall is used by some of the world’s largest financial services organizations, telecommunication providers, e-retailers and government agencies to protect their Web services and SOAs. This class of Application-Oriented Networking (AON) device is deployed at the perimeter of the network to hide internal Web services and accept requests to externalized or “virtual” end-points. Forum XWall inspects XML and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) traffic over the HTTP(S) protocols and requests are then forwarded to the appropriate service through a trusted, single point of entry. Forum XWall security operations range from message validation, intrusion detection, content-based routing, protocol translation and message-layer (OASIS WS-Security 2004) security.

By adding support for WS-SecurityPolicy specifications, Forum XWall administrators are able to represent policy assertions that can then be consumed by .NET applications that implement WSE 3.0. What data needs to be protected, what tokens are required and the security bindings to be used (e.g. algorithms used) can be mutually agreed upon by the Web Services Firewall and .Net application. For example, a SOAP message encrypted by the perimeter firewall for confidentiality and routed to a Microsoft BizTalk Server that is implementing security using WSE 3.0 is able to rely on a synchronized configuration file to perform the necessary decryption operation.

“The need to support the large community of Microsoft .NET developers is a priority for Forum Systems and we continue to look at ways to meet their application security needs,” said Walid Negm, vice president of marketing for Forum Systems. “By working with products such as Microsoft BizTalk, Microsoft ISA Server and now WSE we are able to offer our joint customers more security, with less complexity.”

Forum XWall Support for Microsoft WSE 3.0

The Forum XWall Web Services Firewall v5.0 now supports the WS-SecurityPolicy enabling it to consume security assertions that have been defined with this flexible specification. With added WSE 3.0 compatibility organizations building on the .NET platform can leverage the Forum XWall Web Services Firewall to:
Enable a WSE 3.0 implementation to consume WS-SecurityPolicy documents that are generated by the Forum XWall management console.

Direct the WSE 3.0 security settings to generate WS-SecurityPolicy documents and have the Forum XWall XML firewall control the messages sent and received.

Deploy WSDL documents with WS-PolicyAttachment references using a secure directory to communicate consistent security requirements to clients.

About Forum XWall

Forum XWall is the first and only standalone Web Services Firewall with XIPâ„? (XML Intrusion Prevention), WS-I Profile conformance, XML Schema Restriction, WSDL Access Control and XML Antivirus. The pricing for Forum XWall starts at $2500 for software and $30,000 depending on software and hardware configuration, with additional subscription fees for antivirus and VulCon updates. The product is available from Forum’s Website and direct sales including channel and OEM partners.

About Forum Systems

Trustworthy, ubiquitous and robust Web services can only be achieved by combining security controls that are proactive, always on and systematic. Forum Seamless Security Solutions Architecture (Forum S3Aâ„?) is an adaptive approach to building security minded service-oriented applications and data-level networks using life-cycle solutions including vulnerability management, testing systems, firewalls and gateways. Forum products are available as software, PCI-card and appliance options and comply with government requirements including CheckPoint OPSEC Certification, FIPS Certification, Common Criteria EAL 4+ (in process) and JITC DoD PKI Certification. Forum Systems is an active a member of OASIS and WS-I helping mature standards such as WS-I Basic Profiles, SAML and WS-Security. Customers can benefit from Forum technology that is bundled with market-leading products: Microsoft ISA Server 2004, NetContinuum NC-1000 WSE, Crossbeam Systems, Breach Security and Network Engines NS6300X. For more information on adaptive solutions for Web services security visit http://www.forumsys.com .

Forum Systems, Inc. is the Leader in Web Services and SOA Securityâ„? with a comprehensive suite of trust management, threat protection and information assurance solutions for the automated Web. Forum Systems’ flexible hardware, software and embedded products make vibrant business communications possible by actively protecting XML data and Web services across networks and business boundaries. Forum’s products have been chosen by over 150 Fortune 1000 industry leaders and are winners of Network Computing Magazine’s Well-Connected 2004 Award and Product of the Year 2004 Award, Network Computing Magazine’s Editor’s Choice 2003 Award, Network Magazine’s Product of the Year 2003 Award and DEMO 2004 Invitation. Forum XWall Web Services Firewall is the industry’s only XML Firewall selected by InfoWorld LEADERBOARD 2004. Visit Forum at http://www.forumsys.com/